It was yet another rally. More and more people were holding memorial, peace, and well to put it bluntly mutant rallies. Sure, some were for children or survivors or prevention of violence, but this was one about mutants. Specifically it was about coming out to meet your fellow mutant community. Some were assuredly humans whether volunteering or allies, but the idea was for mutants to know one another, to foster community, and limit isolation.

It was one of the few Tempest thought worthwhile.

He navigated tables on self-help, actualization, and 'stop the violence' while moving through throngs of the obvious and the not-so. More than once he stopped to talk to a group about Sanctuary whether about volunteering or encouraging visits for those who needed assistance. He passed out pamphlets and his email with sanctuary for groups and individuals alike to check out or reach out for information.

For the first time he was picking up on some hesitation. Devon wasn't aware Sanctuary had a reputation for anything besides mutant activity, so that's what he chalked it up to. He understood some would be hesitant to go where there were known to be mutants. A few almost seemed pitying as he explained the help Sanctuary could provide. They must have been comparing it to the shelter in Odessa. He had no idea what order of magnitude of trouble some attributed to the place. There was the META bot attack but that had been a while ago...

Yet Devon heard of a couple more violent incidents. How many of these bots had glitched? How much of this was gossip? It was hard to factor out the rumors so he hoped he'd be able to speak to a police representative about this soon. He was waiting on a call back.

A young brunette woman, quite becoming and likely in her mid to late 20's, stuck out from the crowd with her paler features. Devon smiled as he approached, making clear the stack of flyers in his hand. "Good afternoon, I'm Devon Hadden. Enjoying the meet and greet?"

To Maya's delight, she found the Full Circle well represented. There was some squealing, more than a little hugging, and smiles all around. After an anti-mutant mob had burned the place down, people expected the worst. Instead, they'd maintained a strict support of neutral ground policy. Mutant or human, you got booted for being rude or murderous. Mutant or human, you could find safe harbor, at least until closing time.

She missed it. The Mansion had far more complex policies in place.

Of course, Maya had a few complications of her own. It was best not to mix herself up with the bookstore right now. Though, if there was another riot, she'd gladly take up a broom and defend the doorway. Again.

"Take care!" She waved and extricated herself from some friendly faces. The rest of the rally wasn't bad, she supposed, but the X-man felt a little lost. Was Maya really so out of touch with the mutant community these days? She didn't know any of these faces as friend or foe. Given how many people there were in New York, that shouldn't have been a surprise. But it was.

> "Good afternoon, I'm Devon Hadden. Enjoying the meet and greet?"

"Hi, I'm Maya... uh... just Maya." Not that she'd blanked, but the last name was sometimes a little more notorious than she expected, especially in mutant crowds. That tended to happen when your ex-husband led a mutant revolution and incited the last round of riots in town. "I am enjoying it! I mean, I like it. I didn't know there's so much I didn't know, you know?" Oh man, the babbling was embarrassing.

"So, I imagine you want to tell me about something." Maya indicated the papers that had already been made obvious to try and help him out.

The hesitancy to give a surname was impossible to miss but Devon didn't press it. Everyone had their own story here and privacy was more important for some than others. That didn't mean Devon didn't wonder what it was but in an open community setting, it was likely even more important for a few individuals. You could find a lot online nowadays with a person's full name. Considering he was representing Sanctuary, Devon wasn't about to hide his last name.

Devon laughed, "I'm glad to hear it! And yes, actually. I would." He handed over the flyer, printed in black save for the half-open golden door at the top, just below the word... "Sanctuary. We're a shelter and community center, open to all but we're open about welcoming mutants. We want everyone to know you can visit any time whether you need a place to stay, a place to talk, or just want to hang out with some like-minded individuals."

He gestured to the first flyer on his stack, "We have regular game nights, food drives, computer lessons, first aid teaching, and offer a free clinic with registered nurses. Some of our staff and volunteers are mutants too," he paused but smiled, "like me. We figure after what happened in Texas we need to be more open and involved in the community for their and our benefit."

Devon had explained the same information many times now, though he was sure not to practice a repeated speech. He tried to keep it new, conversational, lest he sound like a telemarketer. It was a genuine effort and he wanted it to matter. Considering some here truly need a place to stay and a meal, he was happy to try. It was a good opportunity for Devon as well.

She got the flyer and tried not to laugh or gasp as those were her two initial, honest reactions. Unfortunately, laughing required that she breathe out. Gasping required that she breathe in. Maya ended up coughing and as a result the air pressure in the area around them flexed in response.

Oh no. Was this man a bad guy? He seemed so earnest and... well, not bad.

She took a deep breath and the pressure lessened. "I'm sorry, I just... The Sanctuary has a serious reputation. But this? It sounds like they're trying to make it the kind of place it always should have been all along." That or the bad guys had gone to ground and they would just not make their base of operations so obvious next time.

Maya studied the flier closely for any hints of ill-will or nefarious subliminal messaging. "You guys aren't still selling mutant insurance are you?"

Tempest not only felt the air flex in and then out around them, but he saw the pressure change in a quite unnatural around, centered clearly around the pale young woman. She coughed and he smiled faintly, awkwardly.

In a large group or open setting he often shut down a little, became somewhat neutral in behavior, and expressed a little less than was probably normal. Devon was usually trying not to get too anxious and maintain a healthy awareness of what was going on around him. In private, especially in a position situation, he became a little friendly and with mutants even more so. Lately with all the new people he was meeting, the different experiences, new jobs, working with Sanctuary he was going through a lot and that could be tiring.

So his facial expressions kind of ran away from him, jumping from concerned, to curious, to confused, to hopeful, to clearly bewildered. Yet still, he smiled there at the end. He was doing this for a good reason after all and trying to help Sanctuary and its kids out.

"I'm-" he swallowed hard, blinking probably a bit too much. "I'm sorry, what? Insurance? Heh," Devon chortled once. "You know, some people have been a bit off put when I spoke to them and I figured it was this meta bot attack I had heard of or maybe just me being so up front about mutant issues. Heck, maybe even scared I was talking about an open shelter for mutants but..."

Devon's head cocked slightly in question. "I've been volunteering and now even working a little for Sanctuary, trying to get things cleaned up and since the Odessa attack, really helping make a safe home for these kids, mutant and non... And some adults too of course. Are you... I'm a little concerned about what you mean 'mutant insurance' is? Serious reputation of what?" It at least ended in question, Devon had tried to clarify but now he was the one after some information.

"Oh, honey." Bless his little heart. So, he was new. Her empathy was real. Everyone was new once. Everyone had the best intentions once. Well, maybe not everyone.

"I'll be the first to admit that I'm a biased source, but this probably isn't the best place to tell you the history of the Sanctuary. I don't want to keep you from passing out flyers. This really..." she looked over the flyer again, just in case it'd changed between glances.

"It looks good. I want this to be what's really happening there." Maya pointed to the page as if he needed to be reminded of what was on his own flyer.

Even so, he still needed to know. "I can help you pass out flyers if you like. When you're done, I'll tell you everything. I'll even go back with you, if you want. Show you some things maybe." Maya wasn't afraid of the Sanctuary. Not exactly. But she did want to see with her own eyes that things were changing.

Devon knew she meant well, but he was suddenly quite nervous. How bad was this history that she couldn't just tell him? Mutant insurance sure sounded like a mob front business. No one had asked him to pressure the florists for money, lest it not rain for weeks. His mind was quickly going to run away from him until he knew what was going on.

She looked back at the flyer and Devon had to assume it was to verify they were all the same. He glanced down as she pointed to it and he nodded. It was what was really happening of that he was certain since he was the one running these programs.

"Yeah..." he drew out the word, still nodding. "I'd appreciate the help. I'd be happy to show you around Sanctuary as I know it anyway." Devon chuckled awkwardly, "I'm not sure what you'd show me that I don't know about but sounds like there's some to tell."

Devon looked down at the flyers and shuffled them in a moment's thought. Perhaps this is why Ms. Wilson was so eager for him to come down when he'd expressed interest and actually had some ideas, let alone a psychology background. Maybe this is why they'd had plenty to do even though the Sanctuary had once had some fairly good set up like the computers in the library and the large infirmary.

"Maya," Devon said as his eyes rose, returning to hers. "I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to, but I appreciate you want to help here and speak with me later. I guarantee to you that we're doing some great things at Sanctuary and it's what we want for those that go there and those that need somewhere to go."

"Then we can talk and get to the bottom of this awkward business."

Okay. So he didn't run away. He also had yet to try to stab her, offer her severed body parts, and he certainly didn’t have any furniture that looked to be made of human bone. At least not on his person. Maybe the Sanctuary really was turning a new leaf. Maybe Devon was somebody to believe in.

"Okay then!" Maya brushed her non-existent sleeves up her arms. "Let's do this."

Nod? Yeah. Nod. There was nodding. So Maya took a share of the flyers and went to approach a couple walking hand in hand with her best sales smile in place...

... and a man in a long coat that had feathers once she got close, a woman with green skin, a gaggle of teens, a harried looking mom. On and on until the faces and the smiles blurred together...

...the fair was winding down in conjunction with the sun setting. At least, that's what people said was happening. Maya was sore. Hands, feet, back, arms— it didn't matter that Cafas guilted her into going to the gym with him once a week. The day was grueling and she knew for a fact that she should exercise more.

And being tired meant she wasn't holding herself together as well as she could have. She was definitely more translucent than she'd started. She knew that mostly because her vision had swapped over from light-based to be spatially-based. That was fine. She knew enough of the Sanctuary secrets to navigate them in her own way.

When she saw Devon, Maya mustered at least one more smile.

"I still have a couple flyers left, but I think things are winding down." There had been people who had flat out refused to take them once they saw the golden door at the top. A lot of them took a few steps and tossed the flyer into a bin, but a few of them folded the paper and tucked it away. That was good enough for Maya. Hopefully that was okay enough for the new guy too.

It's a good thing Devon wasn't a mind reader as some of Maya's thoughts were terrifying. Instead he was encouraged by her eager agreement of his words and willingness to help. Whatever The History was, it apparently wasn't enough to ruin this opportunity.

As she went off with her flyers, Devon spoke to a group of college kids who were allies in the fight, though he had a feeling one was a mutant by the way he spoke. Most seemed willing to check things out. An older man turned him down flat. A younger man took the flyer with his scaled hands but Devon watched it go into the rubbish. Still, Devon kept talking and offering, making a case for Sanctuary.

A couple hours later and dusk was descending on the city. Shadows grew quickly in the city with the sun lost behind the many buildings. It had already gone off to Jersey and there was no coming back from that.

"Yeah, thanks," Devon smiled genuinely in return. "We've tried and even if it only helps one person, right?" He nodded slowly and offered his hand out for the remaining flyers. "Now you still okay with going to Sanctuary? We can have something to eat there and hang out in the office they've given me. Give us a chance to talk about the past and the future."

They hadn't talked too much during the day. It'd been more effective to split up. Still, there was a level of comradery that wouldn't have been there had Maya simply rained down her opinion from above. This was her way of making sure that she was heard. She approached the situation with as much love and care as she could muster for a fresh Sanctuary start.

She agreed to go, so they went. And they went by cab, which was totally not her usual mode of transport. And definitely not her favorite.

Once she peeled her death grip free of the sticky vinyl seats and had exited the car, the reality of the Sanctuary hit her. She'd been here nearly a year ago and the place had been pretty quiet.

"This was once a church, I heard. That explains the gravestones out back." But probably the body count didn't match the headstone count.

The walk up to the doors was uneventful. No one jumped out and said 'boo.' Still Maya hesitated to actually go through the golden doors. She had to look to Devon and try one last time to be sure it wasn't some elaborate trick.

"One time someone stole these doors. These aren't original, but I guess they restored them because they're iconic? THe residents at the time blamed the mutant school and tried to take their doors as revenge, I guess?" Maya surprised herself with some of the knowledge she had about the Sanctuary. But she'd lived in New York for 8 years now. That was plenty of time to gather some history with other mutants.

For example, Lisa sat at her normal desk. At this point, Maya would have been skeptical that the woman had legs except that she'd seen Lisa walk once before. Alarm bells were ringing in Maya's head. If Lisa was still here, so were the bad things. That woman had aided and abetted more criminal activity than was healthy.

"Mrs Csendes." The blonde purred her words and offered an efficient smile. "I haven't seen you in some time, dear. Not since you visited on the arm of our favorite healer."

"Good evening." Maya felt like shrinking away or withering into some hidey hole. She could still get out, but Devon needed to know at least about this place, if not about the mutant climate of the last 8 years. "I haven't seen Sebastian since the riots 2 years ago." When her husband was on a date. With another woman.

Well, he wasn't her husband any more.

Maya turned to Devon. Devon was the one who was important here. Not some scary secretary. "Has Lisa shown you all the ropes? The underground parts? The training equipment?"

"A church?" Devon asked with a questioning glance, "I heard hospital and that's why the infirmary was well appointed..." He frowned, growing more skeptical and suspicious with every step forward. Maya had a way with phrasing that made him wonder. He hadn't yet asked about her fading or the air pressure oddity when they'd first met.

He was somewhat proud of Sanctuary as they exited the taxi and approached the doors. They were clean and gleaming now. All the landscaping had been tightened up with clean lines, trimmed bushes, and litter picked up. Different residents and volunteers had taken up chores and tasks to change out trash bags and other clean up work. All the lights on the building as well as around the ground were fixed up, cleaned, and with bright new energy efficient bulbs contained within. The windows were washed with screens in case anyone wanted to prop a window open.

"One time someone stole these doors. These aren't original, but I guess they restored them because they're iconic? THe residents at the time blamed the mutant school and tried to take their doors as revenge, I guess?"

"Not sure," Devon muttered. "I hadn't heard about the doors being stolen," he shook his head. Mutant school competition? That didn't sound so bad, sounding more like college fraternity hijinks than anything else. Granted, a shelter needed its doors, well... All were welcome but you didn't want a building to be wide open in the winter. It was a security measure.

He didn't miss the uncomfortable exchange between Lisa and Maya. Favorite healer? Sebastian eh? Devon had no idea what cruel intentions abounded here but it sounded like something had gone very wrong. His blue eyes went back to Maya as she peered up at him. Underground training?

"I have not as they were not relevant until this moment," Lisa said quickly. Devon opened his mouth to speak, wide eyed and surprised. Considering he'd been volunteering and working here some time now this was a bit unnerving. "I am sorry Mr. Hadden but such details were not germane to your efforts here. They were not what was needed for Sanctuary."

"...seems there's a lot I don't know," Devon finally said through thin lips. "I will say, Ms. Wilson has been very helpful with everything I've suggested and everything we've needed for those here. She's given me access, keys, a desk, shown me around though I guess not all the way around," he ended with an awkward chuckle.

"Yes, Mr. Hadden," Lisa nodded. "If Mrs. Csendes wishes to disclose the past, that is her right though it should be noted it was indeed the past and not the future of this establishment. It is certainly not the present that Mr. Hadden is helping establish."

Devon nodded slowly. "Right... This conversation's getting a bit meta. Thank you Ms. Wilson," he smiled softly. "May- Mrs. Csendes and I will grab a bite to eat and talk in my office, then maybe take a walk around or both?" he glanced to Maya again. "Up to you."

Lisa was quick to cover her job. She said all the right things. Still. If there was someone who knew even more possibly even everything? It was Lisa.

And now Devon seemed... angry. That wasn't Maya's intention at all. "It doesn't sound like the kinds of things Mr. Hadden would need," that was an easy thing to cede to the secretary. But Maya continued on stubbornly even if she got a bit quieter. "—but that should be for Mr. Hadden to decide."

It was hard going by voice tone and body language alone. But if Maya packed the air pressure in tight enough to get a good read on either of their facial expressions, they would feel it. Maya twisted her fingers between her hands. At least until Mr. Hadden moved the conversation on.

> "May- Mrs. Csendes and I will grab a bite to eat and talk in my office, then maybe take a walk around or both?"

"Both would be optimal, Mr. Hadden." They seemed to have defaulted to the extremely formal. Probably because of Lisa. "Uhm. I would really prefer you call me Maya. Or Ghost, if you prefer."

With her hands and fingers twisting nervously in front of her, it was easy to notice that there was no wedding ring. The divorce was final. Maya didn't want to get caught up in anything Sebastian was doing these days. Maybe she should make it official with a name change as well.

Devon both did and didn't like what Maya had to say. He didn't like hearing there was some secret underground situation with Sanctuary. That was likely partly the reason people glared at him sometimes. First META bot attacks and now this. Devon did at least appreciate Maya had the right intentions; he indeed should be deciding that.

He also picked up the discomfort. "Maya, Ghost. I like it. I'll stick with Maya for now," he nodded the confirmation. "And you can use Devon or Tempest, whichever you prefer."

Lisa opened her mouth to speak but Devon shot her a look and shook his head, "I know, Ms. Wilson but first name it will be. Would you mind getting us some dinner? Normally I'd grab it but this time I'd appreciate the help. Thank you."

The woman frowned slightly but nodded, her attention slowly returning to her computer and her work. Soon she was writing on a sticky note and heading for the kitchen.

Devon gestured ahead to his office on the far side of the hall, the door past most rooms and even past the stairs. "After you," he grinned, "Maya." He went off first, moving through the hall-like foyer to the door and opening it immediately. It wasn't locked; it didn't need to be. Was that going to have to change?

It wasn't a majestic office with mahogany furniture. It did have a couple comfortable chairs, a television, a couple small tables, a desk from a couple decades ago, a computer from last year, and a black leather reclining office chair. After Ghost had entered, he closed the door and went for one of the two stuffed chairs. He adjusted the blinds so a faint amount of the light from the courtyard out back could filter in.

"Okay," he drew out the word as he waited for her to settle down into a chair before following suit. He inhaled deeply and slowly, considering the right approach both for her and for him. "Would you mind telling me a bit more about you before you reveal the Sanctuary's secret truths? I'd love to hear how Ghost relates to air pressure changes but we can... Well, start wherever you think best."

With a mutant handle like Tempest, Maya had to guess they had some overlap in power. Unless he was an ocean type. Tempests happened out in the ocean too, right? But tempests were definitely storms...

Maya let her thoughts circle around and distract her while Mr. Devon "Tempest" Hadden set Lisa straight. It would be rude at this point to ask for a vegetarian option, she decided. So, Maya resolved to just pick around the meat. That would be fine. She also tried to offer up an apologetic smile to Lisa. Because Lisa was scary and Maya did not want on her bad side, but also because Maya didn't want the secretary to think it was personal. Even when all the bad was housed here, Maya had still visited. That was probably the biggest difference between herself and the other X-men.

The office looked extremely functional. Maya was glad to see that Mr. Devon hadn't taken over the old office which was small and cramped and intimidating on purpose. This one had cushy chairs and a certain mis-matched charm that said clearly this was not where Mr. Devon was spending his money. He'd made a minimum viable product out of the space. She approved, though she wasn't entirely sure why he went to mess with the blinds. A little probing wind told her that no one was hiding on the other side or anything.

Maya plopped herself down in the cushiony chair that was clearly meant for her and tried to give her best "I'm paying attention" face.

> "Would you mind telling me a bit more about you...?"

Oh. Well that made total sense. He didn't know her as much as she didn't know him.

"Sure, uh-" She took a second to collect her thoughts and to collect herself. It would not do to lose her grip on her corporeal body now.

"So, I suppose I got dragged into local mutant culture when I tried to attend college, but instead went to the internment camps. When the camps were liberated, mutants naturally shook out into a couple different groups: the school, the Sanctuary, and there was a medical lab at the time. It's still around, but they're not... I mean, I've been there and I don't think they're trying a hostile takeover of a foreign country anymore." She was very sorry for the property damage she had caused there and hadn't been back since.

"The school is for the straight-laced people who follow the letter of the law. The Sanctuary became the place where people congregated who flaunted the law and the spirit of the law. The lab sort of fell into obscurity, but if I had to say anything about the people there they tried to work within the spirit of the law. Mostly. But, in reality everything became rather polarized."

"Uh. Wait. I was supposed to tell you about me." Maya fidgeted in her seat. Okay. Attempt number 2. "I lived at the school for a while until I got my feet under me. I managed to meet some generous people who were willing to invest in my business idea. So I raised venture capital enough to rebuild a bookstore in Manhattan. It suffered damage during one of the riots. But now it has decent security and a plaque stating that the store is supposed to be neutral territory. I didn't want to cut people out of having dialogue just because they were "bad" or human or... you know?" She shrugged. Surely he knew since he was making a place that sounded the same, but better. Talking over a book release or over coffee would not be the same as talking to people who were your literal next door over neighbor.

"I met a man who lived at the Sanctuary as the healer in residence. He was going to be deported so... uhm. I proposed." Maya couldn't even blame anyone else for that mistake. "I have health problems so when we decided to try the marriage thing for real and have kids... uhm. Well, I have a son now. But I think the time away in the hospital might have been difficult for Sebastian.

He sort-of... decided that he was a god. And started his own religion." She cringed, completely apologetic about the whole situation. "So. Here we are. Sitting in the Sanctuary. Nobody's even been stabbed yet!" Which would be very relieving to her boyfriend. Her boyfriend who she should text and keep up to date. Maya fished out her phone and fired off a quick text.

There were quite a few interesting comments. He'd escaped any legal holding or internment camp. That was back when he'd first emerged and he escaped that tragedy. Did she know the X-Men then? And what about the medical lab she mentioned? How much was that hostility a joke? Probably not far off the way she turned a phrase.

Devon nodded as she spoke of the school and the Sanctuary's loose ethics, but soon she went back to her. He smiled at her business venture but frowned at mention of the riot. She'd seen a fair amount here in the city and likely knew quite a few mutants. She could likely really help here; Devon was quickly hoping to have her support.

"Right, right," he said in response to her rhetorical question about a neutral territory. At least he thought it was rhetorical. He nodded eagerly in response.

Things then turned quite personal. Was Sebastian the one that had been loosely mentioned? Devon wanted to stay on top of this, but he felt concerned for her as the story became a tragedy. A false idol, a cult of personality seemed likely for a megalomaniac mutant. He frowned, brow creasing over his azure eyes in silent apology.

"Not since yesterday," Devon said with a laugh and a playful wink. "Stabbings are way down... But seriously?" He laughed again and shook his head. "I'm both baffled and scared. It's so awkward I can't help but laugh every time you make a joke that I'm quite sure isn't really a joke..."

"But look, thanks for telling me more about you. I know we all have our story, but I feel for those challenges. I'm not sure I'd have the same spring in my step as you do," the younger man confided to the older woman. This was no girl.

"Maya, I'm a kid from a Boston. I've been working very hard lately to take control of my life after hiding for years, focusing too much on simple mastering my power and my self. Now I'm trying to be more than that and I figure I can help others too," Devon explained. "That's why I'm here. That's why I hope Sanctuary can be more for others too. It sure sounds like it needs to be."